How good are Infested Terrans?

25 Energy gets you a single Infested Terran. They have 50 hitpoints, have only 5 range, do 5 damage (unupgraded), and die after 20 seconds (on Normal speed, I think). This means that they last for only a brief time when playing on 'Faster'.

Now, I haven't actually used these guys in a proper game, but just at a glance, I can't think of how they can make an impact in the game.

I mean, compare it to the Raven's Auto-Turret. The Turret takes 50 Energy to use but has 150 life, does something like 8 damage (can't remember), I think it has 6 range, and it lasts for 180 seconds (on Normal speed, I think).

I was never really happy with the Raven's Auto-Turret because I'm a firm believer in spells which create more units as falling into the 'Zerg' spectrum of flavour. Zerg units which make MORE Zerg units is very Zergy. So, you can imagine that I was quite excited to hear that the Infestor got this ability back, but in its current incarnation, I can't help but feel that it's kinda lackluster.

For the same Energy cost, wouldn't you rather have an Auto-Turret? You may argue that unlike the Auto-Turret, Infested Terrans can move, but what's the point of being able to move if they move really slowly and die before they can reach targets outside their immediate area?

50 Energy also gets you a total of 100 hitpoints (2 Infested Terrans) and that's more susceptible to splash damage than a single Auto-Turret.

Of course, the x factor is that Ravens are slightly higher up the tech tree.

Also, 75 Energy will only give you 3 Infested Marines. For that same Energy cost, a High Templar can cast Psi Storm, and Infestors are a little more expensive than High Templar as it is :[.

I really want to like this spell because it feels very Zergy, but it doesn't seem like it's worth using. What are the first impressions of this ability for you guys? Have you had any success with it in games? What situations do you think it'll be useful in?

All I can think of is just as fodder, but not very cost-effective ones.

Going to test them out tonite :)

So far, I have been dramatically underwhelmed by this ability. Same goes for the channeling neural parasite.

But Fungal Growth actually got buffed quite a bit which is really nice.

How quickly can you cast multiple infested terrans? How feasible would it be to cast say 8 or 9 infested terrans all at once with a group of infesters? If it were possible to create a "flash army" with infesters to provide a quick boost to your forces, I could see them being somewhat useful.

The other option would be that infested terrans could work as meatshields. Give them twice the hitpoints of a regular marine but slightly less attack and slower movement (and make them last longer than 15 seconds or whatever)

The main problem with the unit is that you simply don't get Hp or damage output worth the effort. That energy could be going into Fungal Growth or Nerual Parasite. But instead, you spend it on a whimpy unit that can't even out-damage a Marine and doesn't even have the Hp of an upgraded Marine.

Yeah they are far too weak and short lived. They should really let you infest buildings instead, I can't remember why they took that out.

Well I got sidetracked by early game agreesion so I didnt get to build any tonite =/

I still think there going to be good

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They should really let you infest buildings instead, I can't remember why they took that out.

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Or they could make them spawn like 3 per cast. Or give them real Hp/damage output. Or any number of small modifications that don't require making up a whole new ability.

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Originally Posted by Nicol Bolas

Or they could make them spawn like 3 per cast. Or give them real Hp/damage output. Or any number of small modifications that don't require making up a whole new ability.

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Yeah. I'm cool with keeping the building corrupt thing on the corrupter; it just needs some tweaking. Spawn Infested Terrans does seem like a good ability in theory it just needs some changes to how it's implemented and exactly what its purpose is supposed to be.

They shouldn't die after time.

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Originally Posted by spychi

They shouldn't die after time.

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Still wouldn't be that useful if their stats suck so much they die really quickly. Might as well just produce an army of zerglings or roaches in the amount of time it takes you to sit in your base with your infesters and summon infested terrans one by one.

I think Infested Terrans make the most sense as a sudden burst of support / cannon fodder for your army. You're in the midst of the battle (or right before it) and the 3 or 4 infesters you have at the back of your army spit out a group of infested terrans who immediately jump into battle and are either killed within 10 seconds or die after 20-25 seconds.

It should be possible to produce a significant group of them quickly, and they should be strong enough to have a measurable impact on a battle without being a main source of damage or difficult to kill individually. Kind of like skeletal warriors raised by Necromancers in WC3. That's how I envision it, anyway.

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Originally Posted by spychi

They shouldn't die after time.

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Well, the 'dying-after-some-time' part I don't have a problem with because otherwise you could use Infestors as a barracks which produces Infested Terrans for free and you could get a lot of free units over time :p.

However, I think they die a little too fast at the moment...at least, too fast considering what an Infested Terran does.

Maybe if the Infestor spawned 2 or 3 at a time, then the current lifespan will make more sense. At the moment, they're so weak that even if you spend 75 Energy for 3 of them, it's not going to have much of an impact in a fight. Certainly not as much as other abilities which cost 75 Energy like EMP, Psi Storm, or the Infestor's own Fungal Growth.

Since it's a spell it should give a a powerful short term benefit not a build up an army really gradually.

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Originally Posted by spychi

They shouldn't die after time.

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They have to. They don't take up any food.

What they shouldn't do is have such a long spawning time or they need to spawn more at a time, or they need to move faster or something.

Right now you just spawn these slow as molasses, weak as hell units that just get killed instantly. I'd much rather use Fungal Growth.

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Originally Posted by Noise

Yeah they are far too weak and short lived. They should really let you infest buildings instead, I can't remember why they took that out.

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Because you cannot get infested Protoss by lore, and it was too difficult to get the units that way.

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Originally Posted by Norfindel

Because you cannot get infested Protoss by lore,

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Bah! There were workable alternatives!!

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and it was too difficult to get the units that way.

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I don't know. Depends on how the spell worked. It's energy cost. etc. etc.

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Originally Posted by Blazur

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Uh... wow. That'd be hard to pull off, though. And the amount of gas you need for 7 infestors is pretty hefty.

Plus that was a computer opponent. lol.

I would like it much bether if spawn infested terrans would be replaced by spawn broodlings pack (3 broodlings per 25 energy?) It would be much more fun to spawn masses of those litlle vicious beasts . Well they have almost no hp but they have a high dps, so it would be perfect in some cases :)


Thughts?

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Originally Posted by Perfecttear

I would like it much bether if spawn infested terrans would be replaced by spawn broodlings pack (3 broodlings per 25 energy?) It would be much more fun to spawn masses of those litlle vicious beasts . Well they have almost no hp but they have a high dps, so it would be perfect in some cases :)


Thughts?

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Overlaps too much with the Brood Lord I think.

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Originally Posted by Blazur

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@ 0:47 - 0:59
Holy moses their portrait is creepy. It's a totally different feeling from the old one.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...stedTerran.gif

Before they seemed like they had this tube attached to their face, and it'd been feeding them the infestation, and polluting their system. Now they're just consumed by it, and vomiting out tentacles.

(They do seem to last for a very short time, and I have to say that they seem a little odd firing the little egg sacs so high into the air, only to land a few feet away).


X :cool:

That clip basically confirms how useless infested terrans are. 7 infestor spam worth did very little damage.

It should be similar to the Corrupter's original ability.... cast it on units (possibly AoE), and If/When those units die they become Infested Terrans/Corrupted units. with a temporary life.

Possibly give it a DPS... ie cast on unit/area, bio units in area take 1-3 DPS for X seconds, if they die in those X seconds they become a
Infested Terran.
Corrupted Protoss.
or
Infesterling.
all with the same stats, just different graphics...or else stats that depend on exactly what unit it was befor (ie Infested Marauder, etc.)


Although I think a cast on building unit spawning ability would be better.... especially if it did NOT stop the buildings activity, and could get cast on friendly buildings (essentially allowing the Infester to help in base defense as well as base assault.)
Terran building->Infested Terrans spawned
Other building->Swarmlings spawned (same stats)

Haven't played the beta but i've always thought this ability sucks. =\

Edit: Just watched the clip... THAT WAS AWFUL!

I'm thinking... change it so they spawn infested Firebats instead of Marines and subsequently boost their stats (the Infested Marine's low stats are because they have to reflect regular Marine stats). Perhaps give them a bonus against organic units and raise their hit points so that they make potential meat shields.

I still think it should spawn some zerg like creature/s, and not an infested terran unit. It can't be realy that hard to create a new zerg unit only for this ability, and give it some stats and that's that.

I like the ability and whoever said they did little damage, that is because they are cannon fodder... They aren't supposed to do much damage, they are meat shield. Only thing I don't like is that they don't last long at all. Even 30 sec would be good, this is more like 15-20...

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Originally Posted by RamiZ

I like the ability and whoever said they did little damage, that is because they are cannon fodder... They aren't supposed to do much damage, they are meat shield. Only thing I don't like is that they don't last long at all. Even 30 sec would be good, this is more like 15-20...

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I agree with it lasting too short a time. Compare it to Auto-turret that costs twice as much energy but does more damage (at least per shot), has 3x the health and lasts 9x longer than the Infested Terran. In its current form, the Infested Terran doesn't quite work as a meat shield. It has too few hit points to soak up much damage and it doesn't deal enough damage or last long enough to warrant the enemy diverting firepower against them.

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Originally Posted by RamiZ

I like the ability and whoever said they did little damage, that is because they are cannon fodder... They aren't supposed to do much damage, they are meat shield. Only thing I don't like is that they don't last long at all. Even 30 sec would be good, this is more like 15-20...

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Infested Terrans are pretty flimsy meat-shields. I think the idea is the same as the Brood Lord's spawn broodling attack. Completely overwhelm your opponent with masses of units, but um... it takes A LOT of energy to create an even moderately note-worthy number of Infested Terrans.

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Originally Posted by Aldrius

Infested Terrans are pretty flimsy meat-shields. I think the idea is the same as the Brood Lord's spawn broodling attack. Completely overwhelm your opponent with masses of units, but um... it takes A LOT of energy to create an even moderately note-worthy number of Infested Terrans.

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Well, that is meat shield... You have to attack them in order to attack some other units, Hydras for example. And it is not like they are useful for anything else, one Infestor can produce 8-9 of them. Having 3 Infestors in your army can make devastating group of Infested Marines. Of course, you won't use all of your energy on them, but making about 15 Infested Marines with those infestors and that are addition to your army, I think it is worth it.

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Originally Posted by RamiZ

Well, that is meat shield... You have to attack them in order to attack some other units, Hydras for example. And it is not like they are useful for anything else, one Infestor can produce 8-9 of them. Having 3 Infestors in your army can make devastating group of Infested Marines. Of course, you won't use all of your energy on them, but making about 15 Infested Marines with those infestors and that are addition to your army, I think it is worth it.

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Why would you attack a temporary unit? The Hydralisk has the same range and deals almost double the damage.

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Originally Posted by Aldrius

Why would you attack a temporary unit? The Hydralisk has the same range and deals almost double the damage.

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Maybe cause I will make Infested Marines in melee range of your units and cast Fungal Growth on them. Anyway, I don't think that they are that bad for 25 energy cost.

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Originally Posted by RamiZ

Maybe cause I will make Infested Marines in melee range of your units and cast Fungal Growth on them. Anyway, I don't think that they are that bad for 25 energy cost.

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That'd take a lot of energy and be really tricky to pull off.

And if they're melee units that have been immobilized, why would you bother sticking the Infested Marines where the melee units can still kill them?

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Originally Posted by Aldrius

That'd take a lot of energy and be really tricky to pull off.

And if they're melee units that have been immobilized, why would you bother sticking the Infested Marines where the melee units can still kill them?

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Well not really melee like melee, but 2-3 Range, just to be closer than Hydras, so Immobilized units would attack them. And I don't really see that taking a lot of Energy, I can make Mix of 3-4 Infestors with my Army. 2 Of them can use Infested Marines and 2 of them can use Fungal Growth. And as far as I know, one Infestor can cast 2 times Fungal Growth with full energy, so don't really see the problem.

I take it back. Infested Terrans are actually not too bad. They're really all Infestors can use for economy harassment.

But honestly, they could just make it the building infestation ability again, you're only EVER going to use that spell inside the enemy's base. Out in the field Neural Parasite and Fungal Growth are superior options in almost any situation.

EDIT:

Cool things about Spawn Infested Terrans:

The spawning range is about 8-9. So you can fling these guys past a wall or something if you have to. Or... into somebody's mineral line.
They spawn pretty fast. In about 2-3 seconds.

I think the only issue I have with this ability is how much you have to cast it. I think I'd prefer a higher energy cost with them spawning more marines. You have less control that way, and it's easier for the spell to mess up probably... but... I dunno. It takes A LOT of micro right now to get any decent number of marines onto the field. It's like if Terran had warp-in with marines.

I think if they changed this ability at all, they should do that, or give the marines a bit more longevity. Right now I think they'd be a bit too powerful if they lasted too much longer, though...

Neural Parasite is actually probably the Infestor's most underwhelming spell right now. I have yet to use it to really turn the tide. It's more of a crowd control spell than anything... I think the key to this ability is to use multiple Infestors in unison to grab a few colossi or immortals, but it's a pretty specific situation, and if they have that many units it's hard to pull off.

Fungal Growth is still really nice, though.

Well yeah, as I said. But, about Infestation, it would be cool that they change back the Corruptor and give him again that Corrupted Mass, while giving "Corruption" to the infestor, Infest building, Temporary making it not working, and spawning something from it for next 10-20 sec for example, something that is not Infested Marines since that would only work vs Terran. But well I am happy either ways.

Well, about Protoss lore issues with buildings.. have you read the Frontline series? They have infested Protoss there. idk if that's really canon or not.

If it HAD to stay spawned eggs, I'd prefer it be around 50 energy spawns 3 of them.

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Originally Posted by Artanis186

Well, about Protoss lore issues with buildings.. have you read the Frontline series? They have infested Protoss there. idk if that's really canon or not.

If it HAD to stay spawned eggs, I'd prefer it be around 50 energy spawns 3 of them.

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They did, but after that Blizzard said that Protoss can't be infested. So in the end it was some misunderstanding, If I get that right.

long casting range + one-at-a-time spawning looks interesting to me. throw them up a cliff, throw them ahead of your army to scout a mobile enemy. throw them in position to glank ST's or HT's ... i like the idea of full presision over how many to summon. if its really cumbersome to summon many at one time, thats a UI problem, and should be handled as such. (IMO unit prod. should too; we need the OPTION to make more than one unit per click)

Not a fan of the ability to begin with, but if its staying, then I'd have to agree with getting 2-3 to a cast, or at least extend the lifespan to some degree - 40-60 seconds possibly.